Saturday, March 10, 2012

We’re BAAACCCKKKK!!!


After 7 whole days in Florida, the 2012 Simmons Softball team has touched down back in Boston for the rest of the season. Although the numbers may not show it, we had an extremely successful spring break training trip and I couldn’t be happier or more proud of us all! Now I’m going to get a little sappy so brace yourselves…

I’ve been on this team for 4 years and I’m not just saying this to be nice (those of you who know me know that I don’t lie just to make people feel better) but this is the most talented group of girls I’ve ever played with and I couldn’t ask for a better team to be a part of in my senior season. After only playing 10 games in just a short week, I can already tell that we have such a promising season ahead of us and all the teams in the GNAC should be shaking in their britches for when they face the shark attack of Simmons Softball!

For our freshmen, we’ve got Lauren & Amanda C. as our starting pitchers throwing curves, screws, change-ups, you name it! They both are so impressive with their poise, skill and slight ‘tude on the mound. Then there’s Alaina and Hannah holding up the left side of the infield as the hot-corner and short stop, respectively.  These two have knocked down balls and prevented the other team from getting some pretty good hits. They’ve also been really remarkable in the batters box! Victoria has done an amazing job at holding the fort down behind the plate, throwing girls out when they’ve tried to steal 2nd on us! Jen has stepped up to the plate and been our DP (designated player, so she bats in the lineup but doesn’t play in the field). When I say she’s stepped up, I mean she’s literally stepped up! She’s been working on her slapping and so far, so good! Jess has done a great job coming in as a pinch hitter and has gotten the job done when we’ve really needed a hit. Danielle has also come in during the games as a pinch hitter and pinch runner.  We know we can count on these 2 to come in prepared to work hard!

Now onto the sophomores.  Our former GNAC rookie of the year, Em Cunningham, has kept her legend alive and has been slugging the ball all around the field, and even over the fence a few times! She’s also been playing awesome at 1st base, scooping up balls and getting the team some serious outs! Christina has also been smacking the ball all around and has also been playing a mean right field. Actually, she’s mostly been tripping over herself, but we’ll forgive her for that!  J Kate has been coming in as a relief pitcher for us and has been so crucial to our team.  She’s helped stop teams from scoring on us and has also thrown pitches by them, making them swing and look like fools! Thanks for the laughs Kate!  Katie (K-Mack) has also been like a wall behind the plate, splitting games with Victoria. Her speed on the bases has also helped us score more runs.

For the juniors, Ari has been playing left field, tracking down balls and has been shutting down the other teams! Her speed and strong throw are such an asset to this team! Cailin’s been at 2nd base, stopping balls from going up the middle and has also been making some extremely crucial plays for the team. The two of them also have been strong hitters in our line-up.

And the seniors. Sami has been so supportive of us all and has stayed so positive through her injury.  She’s been helping the pitchers especially when Atlee left mid-way through the week.  She’s also been all of our #1 fan, constantly cheering and encouraging us! And for myself, I’ve been playing center field, also falling down in the outfield like Christina so I really can’t poke fun at her!

We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible throughout the season, starting with this coming Tuesday at MIT at 4 pm. As for now, I’m going to go catch up on some sleep since we were all up at 3:30 am (thanks for that coach!)

- Amanda Gould, #12

Last Day in Florida!


Today we woke up for our final full day in Florida.  Although it was our last day, we knew we had to play hard and give it our all. Our first game was against Moravian, who is ranked in the top 20 in the nation. We didn’t let their ranking intimidate us and we came out strong from the start. It was an evenly matched game offensively and defensively. Lauren kept the Moravian hitters guessing throughout all 7 innings. Unfortunately we lost 2 to 0 but it was a well fought game.

Our final game was against Oswego State. We made a deal before the game with coach and she said that if we won, we could put bows in her and Jamie’s hair for our next game. Jaime didn’t seem too excited about the deal but she really had no say in the matter. Once again we came out swinging and we scored 3 early in the game. We stayed strong defensively and run ruled them in 5 innings ending the game 9 to 1. Looks like Coach and Jamie will be looking real pretty next game!!!

To celebrate our final night in Florida, we went out for a team dinner. The coaches surprised us by taking us to a Japanese Hibacci restaurant. We all enjoyed watching them cook right in front of us and flipping zucchini into our mouths. By the end of our dinner we were about ready to explode, except for Cailin who wanted to eat another plate!

After getting back to the houses, we packed all the equipment in the vans and cleaned up the houses for our early morning departure (4 am to be exact). Most of us were looking forward to getting back home, although everyone was going to miss the 80 degree weather.

Lauren Backhaus #16 and Hannah Cunningham #2
 

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Day 4 and our first shutout!

Day 4 of games was another great one. We had 1 o’clock and 5 o’clock games and came out with another W!! WOOHOO!!

First game was a tough battle. We fought till the 7th but the score did not turn out in our favor. The game ended 8-6. Going into the 7th we trailed by 5 runs and managed to push across 3 more in that final inning all with 2 outs. This was one game we never gave up on. Three pitchers, Amanda C. (# 23), Kate (Bres, # 9), and Lauren (# 16) worked extremely hard in this game to keep us in it. After this game we learned that we must push runs across sooner but as Coach Jamie said after the game “it’s better late than never” !! The team MVP award went to Cailin for starting some rallies and keeping the energy up!

After the first game we had a bit of a break and got to rest and fuel up for the second. The lovely parents once again supplied us with tons of fruit, veggies, chewy bars and drinks. We can’t say enough about how much we appreciate all that they are doing! After that we warmed up a bit to get loose for the next game.

Pitching was on fire in the second game. Lauren was killing them with her curve ball and an amazing change that she threw for a strike numerous times. While also managing to make many of the opponents look like fools as they tried to touch it. When they did make some contact our defense was always ready barely letting runners get comfortable on base. The game changer for us during this game was our offense. We were confident and poised at bat which led to hard contact and runs. This time we accomplished one of our goals and strung a bunch of hits together. We came out on top 6-0 getting the first shut out of the season, which is why the MVP went to pitcher Lauren!! Congrats Lauren!!

Tomorrow is our last day down here and we are ready to leave it all out of these fields, always improving and always giving it 100%.

Thanks for reading!

-xoxo SHARKS!! OUU AHH AHH!

Mini Golf Fun!

After six tough games, we received a well deserved day off. Everyone spent the day relaxing whether it be with their families or at the houses with teammates. Some of us also went to MLB?s Detroit Tigers spring training game with our families and had a lot of fun.

After spending the day apart, we all came together at 7pm for some mini golfing and ice cream. I must say we have a pretty talented team. There were many hole in ones throughout the night and they were all finished off with some loud celebrating. I?d be surprised if anyone at the mini golf place didn?t hear at least one of us screaming with excitement. The winners of the night were Jess and Lauren who both scored 39. They were prized with minnie mouse hats with ears and wore them for the rest of the night.

Time for ICE CREAM! The lady who was scooping most likely wanted to kill us but hey she got some good business!! We ordered 19 ice creams, and they were delish! What a perfect way to end the day off together as a team.

After our team fun night we were all tired and ready to get some rest for the games the next day.

BED TIME! LIGHTS OUT!

Cailin Pagel #4 & Kate Breslin #9

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Day 3 in Florida!


Today started off a little later than yesterday. We walked downstairs to Mr. Luongo loading our dishwasher and to Mrs. Luongo’s smiling face with bagels and iced coffee to start our morning off right (your always welcome at our house). We went outside and drank iced coffee by the pool before our team meeting at 11. Unfortunately coach lost her voice so she sounded a bit like a 13-year-old boy (sorry coach, love you). After the meeting we fueled our stomachs with left over pizza from the night before. Then it was time to get ready for our games, which meant a line for Cailin to braid hair. Its not easy being the best looking team on the field! 





We started off the day with a game at 3pm against Susquehanna University. We came out with our bats on fire and strong defense but unfortunately we came out with a loss to the speedy Crusaders.

We ran over to our next game at 5pm vs. the very large Ohio Northern University. Again we came out strong scoring two in the first inning, sacrificing our bodies to get on base (Lo dome rocked and X hitting the ball with her wrist).  Unfortunately we came out on the other end of the game. We are still trying to figure out how their catcher got so big…
 


We came home and Momma Moe started to cook us some yummy chicken and pasta for dinner. Thanks Momma Moe…even though it took forever it seemed!! After dinner we headed over to the coaches house to watch some movies. Halfway down the street we could already hear the coaches yelling and screaming, playing an intense game of foosball. Jamie came away with the win ending coach’s winning streak. Unfortunately the record is Jamie 1 Coach 5…we’ll see what happens the rest of the week.

We sadly had to say our goodbyes to Atlee. We’re gonna miss you but mostly torturing you with bananas!! Love you!!  <3 




We are all looking to our first day off here in Florida to hang out with family or spend the day catching some rays by the pool (not too many coach I promise).


Love
Snow White, Pocahontas, and Piglet
(Lauren #16, Danielle #6 and Hannah #2)
 


Monday, March 5, 2012

March 5, 2012



Day 2 @ Florida

The alarm went off way too early this morning 6 am to be exact.  Per usual we all gathered in the kitchen and ate our cereal and drank our tea (not coffee like the other house).  Since most of us were little lobsters after the first day of games, we learned our lessons and lathered up on the sunscreen!! Kate used the 100 spf and still managed to get burned.  After we got dressed Alicia picked us up at the corner of the street, and we were off to play our first game of the day against Elizabethtown.  Here is a picture of us warming up for the game; it was still a little chilly in the morning.





The bats were on fire for the start of the game, and the pitching of freshman Amanda Cordeiro led us to our first victory of the season!!!

For the second game our opponent was The College of New Jersey.  This game was a battle from start to finish.  We ended up going into the top 9th and with the score being 4-4.  Unfortunately we were unable to pull away with the win.  There were many positives that we took away from this game even though the score was not in our favor.

After a long morning of some great softball, player parted ways and went to lunch with their families or went back to the houses to relax.  To welcome the newcomers to the team we held a family get together.  Expecting a large crowd we ordered 16 pizzas.  We met the family members or the newbies, and shared some great laughs.  Coach was plotting to throw in our new assistant coach Jamie into the pool, but was not successful.  Before this trip is over someone might be getting a little wet…        
 
Emily Cunningham, Sophomore

Another beautiful day!